HERITAGE
& HISTORY
In
about
the last 20 years there has been an upsurge of interest in Family
genealogy and Scottish history and heritage. In stark contrast many
clan
societies, have significantly declined in membership
and have failed to attract younger generations. There are
millions of Scottish descent whose ancestors emigrated in the last 250
years and many at some point in their lives will return to visit their
ancestral roots. These Ancestral Tourists are considered to be a key
factor in the tourist industry and prosperity of today's
Scotland. I paraphrase some recent words of Torquil Ian Campbell,
the 28th MacCailen Mor and the 13th Duke of Argyll ,
"We
in Scotland need to encourage worldwide members of our clan to be proud
of their history and heritage if the ideas of clanship are going to be
relevant to younger people in today’s society."
Since
the beginning of the 19th century , the clan has not been an integral
part of the social structure of Scotland. The clan has gone world wide
with the Celtic concept of a “family” or clan united by blood however
tenuous the blood link. The history of the clan has become
largely the history of the members who emigrated from the
Highlands and preserved their heritage. The family stories of its world
wide members are an integral part of the clan heritage and
preserving its heritage is one key to survival.
To
become proud of your Heritage & History, first you must have
easy access to information about the history of your ancestors and the
world in which they lived. There has been an irreversible change with
the digitization of the libraries of the world. Formerly one could only
access information through the reading rooms of major libraries, make
notes, obtain copies of individual pages etc. Now through Google
Books and the Gutenberg Project it is possible to download the full
text of over one million books published before about 1925; it is
simple to copyright your research, share with others
and preserve for future generations.
I
had started the process by collecting over nine years clan and
genealogy records and publishing the clan lachlan CD but this is
now outdated. We live in an age where instant information has
become the norm. 10 & 12 year old children routinely “Google”
for information for their school projects. In this age you
require: 24/ 7 access through a web based system accessible by
Password with the ability to add content in a span of days
not months; to add content in the form of E Books so that
information can be read on mobile devices like E Book readers as well
as on computers or printed by downloading; to preserve
“clan information” in the National Library of Scotland
(NLS); to add ISBN copyright protection for say“Family
Histories”; to have an expandable collection for the
contribution of future generations.
ONLINE
LIBRARY. The Online Library meets the above criteria. It
can handle an unlimited number of “books”, an unlimited number of users
and an unlimited size of individual files.
A CONTACT feature allows you to raise questions and submit
content. Family Genealogy questions will be answered by a panel of Tom
McLachlan, the Sennachie and the CLA Genealogy team. In Your Family
History(YFH) , there are over one thousand entries for
members giving the direct line of descent with no siblings etc.
There were space limitations when published in the clan lachlan magazine.
These no longer exist. If you are included in YFH, ask Tom
to list his full record of your family so that your complete family
will be in the clan records; if you are not in YFH send your known
family information to Tom & the panel for inclusion in YFH.
FAMILY
INFORMATION. Comprehensive Family Histories ( given an ISBN number)
including the families of your non MacLachlan ancestors are welcomed
and also family photos, memoirs, stories, pioneering experiences,
wartime experiences etc. For example my own West Highland Morvern family gives me blood
descent from MacLachlan, Ross, MacLean, MacPherson, MacKenzie, Cameron &
Fraser and that is only a partial list. I
would stress that there are no restrictions on Family Histories
published. One of your ancestors might be say Italian; you could
have that portion of your Family History in Italian if you so desire.
E books
can revolutionize the preservation of
family information . Instead of a paper copy or computer
file bequeathed to some family member, you would have your
personal E book in the Lachlan Library available for future
generations and filed in the National Library of Scotland.
OUR
COMMON HERITAGE.
We are trying to
build a resource center to
cover our broad Celtic, Irish and Scottish heritage.
We welcome texts on the
experiences of all the Highland Clans. We welcome texts on the
broad
pioneer experiences which our ancestors shared with other groups and
nationalities; we welcome texts of personal & family
memoirs; family histories & genealogy research; stories &
poetry; travel experiences: we welcome texts on the social structure,
literature, religion, dance, piping and song of Highland ancestors
and the experiences of their migration from the Highlands and
in many cases emigration overseas.
If
the holder of a Lachlan Library
Card (User ID & Password)
supplies text in say
Word and Photos in jpg, we would convert the text into an Lachlan Edition E
Book and publish in the
Library.
CLAN
INFORMATION . There are about 120 separate E Books covering Clan
Lachlan history, legends, traditions, family stories. The full editions
of the clan lachlan magazine
from Issue 38 to Issue 64 are included with the more recent issues
being in full colour. We plan to seek and would welcome Clan Histories
from other Clan Societies .
BOOKS from the LIBRARIES of the
WORLD. Starting there are about 150 E
books covering Celtic and Highland History and Culture and Scottish
authors. Wherever possible the E Books are in Epub ( the publishing
Standard which can be read on your computer) and in MOBI ( the standard
for the Amazon Kindle). The issues of Clan lachlan and some of the
larger books are only in PDF. This
area of the
Library is programmed to increase very rapidly. We plan to include
all available Scottish literature and books of general interest from
the period; we will include relevant literature from Australia,
Canada, New Zealand and USA.
NATIONAL
LIBRARY of SCOTLAND. Annually all the Clan records and Family
information will be burned on a DVD and filed in the NLS. This
gives a permanent “Hard Copy” storage.
A LIVING HERITAGE. We
will continue to seek the participation of members in building up this
collective library. A little bit of effort from many can work wonders
in publishing
Lachlan Editions E
books.. This will be a continuing
effort through the years. If you wish to see how you could help
use the CONTACT facility and connect to the Publisher. We will strive to
make this a
"living heritage.
MEMBERSHIP
in the ONLINE LIBRARY . Annual Library membership is obtained by an
annual charitable donation of $25.00( in any dollar currency) or
£12.50 to the Lachlan Trust of Canada. With this
donation one can support the old castle lachlan project, learn more
about your Celtic & Highland heritage and preserve for future
generations your Family History. Library membership brings the "benefit " of full or associate membership in Clan Lachlan. (CLA membership does not include
the b & w printed magazine which is paid separately if desired).
Existing members of the Society are under no obligation to accept this
“benefit” ; they are granted the privilege of transferring the benefit CLA
membership to a family member if they so desire.
For a CA21 $25.00
donation and other
options See:Trust Order Form.
LISTINGS OF LIBRARY CONTENT
GENRES
This
gives a list of the Genres in alphabetical order. If there are too
many items in any particular Genre this would be subdivided.
There
are about 1000 members listed by membership number in"Your
Family History". With the limitation on space in the magazine
this was forced to be "direct descendants"only from a
"Clan Lachlan" ancestor. There is no limitation on
size now. If and when you add a more full Family History,
associated Family Histories, memoirs, stories, war experiences,
photos etc, you will be assigned a group of Index numbers; these will
be grouped by membership number and Genre(0-499, etc). Members who are
not in
YFH can enter the system and preserve basic Family data by sending
summary data to Sennachie Tom using the CONTACT function.
CONTENT1
The "books" and "magazines" in
the Library are listed by Genre.
ADDITIONS
This would give the new items
added to the Library Collection since the last updating of Library
Content on November 15, 2011
STATUS
There
are a number of features, user instructions, more content
etc,
to be added but the Library is fully functional.( I would recommend that as a routine you
refresh the website home page as your browser may be using your
History for faster access and you may be using an "old"
website.)
